contains swearing and informal terms however, syntax, verb forms and spelling would be considered 'correct' from a prescriptivist view and elements are consitent with SE features

Mum was tired having made us all dinner

not classed as SE because of the use of the verb were- using plural form instead of singular making sentence grammatically incorrect

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Received Pronunciation (RP)

=a social accent traditionally associated with educated people and the upper class

It is different from other accents as it doesn't indicate which region the speaker is from

Traditionally RP and SE are linked and this would be the most prestigious way of speaking

Most recognisable examples of RP are how the Queen speakers and the traditional speech of BBC presenters- people sometimes call RP Queen's English or BBC English

Because RP has been seen as standard way of speaking English it's the accent taught to use when people learn English as a foreign language

Features of RP

long vowel sounds in words like grass and castle

long vowel sound in words like come and under

pronouncing hs and ts in words like hat and letter

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Change in RP

BBC newsreaders still use SE but they now speak it in a range of regional accents. RP is still associated with educated and upper class speakers but its association with authoritative voices has diminished

only 3% of Britain still uses RP in its traditional form

There has been downward convergence and levelling of RP over the years-

may have been modified because accent is so distinctive

levelling helps people to integrate with the other language varieties in society

The decline in RP is linked to the rise of Estuary English- spread because Cockney speakers use it as a higher status variety and RP speakers converge on it as a standard variety

Estuary English is viewed as a classless variety of English which has helped it to spread further than other varieties as few prejudices exist alongside it

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Sociolect

=varieties of language used by particular social groups to provide identity. Depends on:

Socio-economic status- studies have shown middle and upper class people tend to use more standard forms than lower class people who are more likely to be regional dialects

Education- studies show that well educated people are more likely to use SE and RP and are less likely to use sentence structures from regional dialects

Age- sociolects used by teenagers tend to include more non-standard forms and slang than adults. Also more influenced by popular culture.

Belief system and culture- religious groups use specialist vocabulary, UK society is multicultural so lots of words from other languages have become part of other sociolects

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Situation

Language that's appropriate in one social group might not be appropriate in another

People adapt to the situation they are in for example:

Politicians tend to use SE when they're making a political speech because of the formal situation but when talking to individuals on the street they might use non-standard english and features of regional dialects

lots of people speak differently with friends and parents e.g. might use more slang

Some people have a telephone voice- often ncloser to RP

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Idiolect

=the unique language of an individual as result of a unique combination of influences:

where someone is from and the regional accents and dialects influencing them

Some slang will only be used by very small social groups e.g. a particular school

Some reflects multiculturalism, as slang can come from lots of different cultures e.g. tucker is an Australian slang word for food

The media also influences slang and gives people access to different subcultures

e.g. Hip Hop culture has introduced Black American slang that lots of English speakers no recognise e.g. bling

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Slang and context

The amount and type of slang used depends on the situation a person is in

Who you're with can have a big impact e.g. you might want to give a different impression of yourself to your friends than you do to your grandparents

Time and place can also have an effect e.g. in a formal context

like a business meeting, people are unlikely to use much slang or taboo language- it would be unprofessional

In an informal context, like having dinner with friends, people are more likely to swear

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Slang in written language

Used in multi-modal texts like emails

The amount and type of slang used depend on the purpose and audience of the text

The reasons for including slang in writing can be to appear informal and accessible to audiences. Taboo language can be included to shock the audience

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Changing slang

Slang changes very quickly as words go in and out of fashion

Lots of slang words used to be popular but they wouldn't be used anymore e.g. cits for citizens

Slang terms can quickly start to sound dated e.g. mega (good) This happens especially with teenage slang. When adults and young children start using it, the slang becomes more mainstream and then teenagers stop using it

Sometimes slang terms become so widely used that they become part of Standard English e.g okay and phone. These words were once considered informal, but now it would seem formal to say telephone

The opposite can also happen- words can go from being formal or acceptable to being classed as vulgar. An example of this is the word, ****, which wasn't thought of as informal until the 17th century

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Attitudes towards Standard English

SE is a social dialect usually associated with educated, middle and upper class people. It is the language of formal speech and writing

Regional dialects were associated with the uneducated and the lower classes, so it was seen as important to be able to use English 'properly' to be successful

Prescriptivists

see Standard English as the 'correct' and 'pure' form of the language

Other varieties are sometimes thought to be 'corruptions' of it

There's a view that if you are using another dialect you aren't using English 'properly'

Descriptivists

all varieties of English are equal, no reason why SE should be seen as better than any other dialect, claim people shouldn't be considered uneducated

Whether SE is appropriate depends on mode and context

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Attitudes towards accents and dialects

Someone's accent and dialect is often a good indication of where they're from. But it can also influence attitudes about a speaker's social background and education

Some people assume that people who use regional dialects are poorly educated or lower class

Regional varieties are often associated with being down-to-earth and modest e.g. because regional accents are seen as being more accessible to audeiences they are used more in voice overs in adverts

People sometimes make assumptions about others based on the variety of English they use e.g. people from the north of England often think with southern accents sound 'posh'

Workman (2008) studied people's perceptions of different accents. Participants listened to recordings of different accents whilst they looked at peoples photos

People rated intelligence depending on the accent they thought they had

Yorkshire accents were rated as sounding most intelligent

Birmingham accent was rated as much less intelligent

Shows the strength of stereotypes

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Attitudes towards slang

Slang is sometimes seen as low level, vulgar language which shouldn't be used in writing or formal situations

some people think slang is undermining standards by not using the language 'properly' assuming the people who use lots of slang are lower class and uneducated

Slang is seen as the language of informal speech, so it's considered inappropriate to use it in a formal context

This is because slang has a reputation for being rebellious and subversive, so it isn't formally accepted as a variety of English

Some people worry that it doesn't follow the 'proper' spelling and grammar rules

However, most slang words do follow the rules of Standard English- they're just more flexible

People who are interested in slang argue that it's an intelligent and creative variety of language that changes and develops very quickly and can serve an important purpose in social contexts as it identifies people as part of a group.

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Regional varieties and slang in education

Linguists like Milroy and Milroy (1985) have argued that it's not fair to correct children for using non-standard varieties of English

Children who use regional varieties of English end up struggling at school because Standard English is unfamiliar to them. Because regional dialects are linked to social class, it's often working class children who are put at a disadvantage because they're told that the language used is wrong

The Milroys argued all varieties should be valued equally and children't shouldn't be discouraged

John Honey (1997) argues that children should be taught Standard English at school because this is the only way to make sure all children have equal oppurtunities

Children will be disadvantaged if don't use the prestigious Standard English

E.g. might miss out on job oppurtunities because non-standard spellings are used in applications so employers might assume they are unintelligent

Non-standard varieties appropriate for informal speech but SE should always be favoured because it ensures universal understanding

Called biadialectism- children end up using two dialects

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Language and Gender

Studies have shown that women tend to use accents from a higher social class than men

Trudgill (1983) studied men and women's social class accents. He found that women's pronunciation was closer to Recieved Pronunciation (RP) the accent that's usually seen as the most prestigious

Cheshire (1982) studied the speech of adolescent girls and boys, and found that boys tended to use more non-standard grammatical forms e.g. ain't, than girls

Using Standard English and RP gives a person overt prestige- the prestige of being associated with a respectable, well-off society.Women tend to seek overt prestige more than men

Using non-standard English gives a person covert prestige - they seem a bit rebellious and independent.Men are more likely to see covert prestige than women

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Women and prestigious forms

There are several possible reasons for why women use more prestigious language

Women might be less secure than men in terms of social status. If they feel that they have an inferior position in society, thne they might use more prestigious language to overcome it

Society generally expects higher standards of behaviour from women- they're expected to behave like 'ladies' and use 'ladylike' language

Men already have a higher social status than women , so they don't need prestigious forms to improve it. Instead, they seek covert prestige by using non-standard language that seems tough and rebellious

Non-standard language is traditionally associated with working-class men, so men might use it to show they share traditionally masculine qualities

Important: These explanations are based on studies of a few men and women in the 1980s so gender roles have changed and it cannot be used as a generalisation

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Deficit model- Lakoff

Robin Lakoff identified features that she felt were characteristic of women's language

Apologetic requests- e.g. I'm sorry but would you mind closing the door

Tag questions- e.g. this is nice, isn't it?

Indirect requests- e.g. it's very noisy out there (meaning- could you close the door)

Lakoff also pointed out that women tend to speak less than men, use fewer expletives and use more intensifiers

She argued that these features of women's language reflected women's inferior social status, and made it worse by making them seem indecisive and needy.

She said that women's language is weak compared to mens preventing women from being taken seriously. Explanation= deficit model

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Deficit model- O'Barr and Atkins

Suggested an alternative explanation to the deficit model

They analysed transcripts of American courtroom trials

They found that male and female witnesses who were of low social status and/or inexperienced with the courtroom practices both showed many of the linguistic features that Lakoff labelled female

This suggests that the kind of language Lakoff describes as female isn't only found in women, and might be more to do with individuals feeling powerless

Lakoff's research is quite old

More recently, researchers like Holmes (1984) have suggested that 'women's language' doesn't show weakness, but a desire to co-operate

Linguists like Cameron (2007) argue that there are actually very few differences between men and women's language, and situation affects how people speak much more than gender

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Dominance model

Zimmerman and West (1975) recorded interruptions in conversations between men and women

They found that 96% of the interruptioms were by men

This suggested that men are dominant in male-female conversations. They argued that this reflects male dominance in society

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Difference model

Tannen (1990) described male and female conversational style in terms of difference

Men:

Men are concerned with status and independence e.g. they interrupt a lot

They give direct orders e.g. pass me that, and don't mind conflict

Men are interested in gaining factual information and finding solutions to problems

Women:

Women are interested in forming bonds- so tend to talk less and agree more than men

They usually give polite, indirect orders and try to avoid conflict

Women aim to show understanding by compromising, and offering support rather than solutions

The reasons for these differences could be to do with the topics discussed in single-sex groups e.g. traditionally male topics have focused on work and sport where factual information and status are important. Traditionally female topics have centred on the home and family, where emotions, support and compassion are important

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Problems with these explanations

Beattie (1982) questioned Zimmerman and West's idea that men interrupting women was a sign of dominance

He suggested that interruptions can be supportive and show the person is listening

e.g. if they repeat what the speaker is saying, or say things like yes or mm

Cameron (2007) argues that a lot of research is biased because there has been more focus on the differences between male and female language, which are actually quite small rather than the similarities

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Representation of men and women

Men and women are represented differently

Sexist language is language that insults, patronises or ignores people on the basis of their gender

There is a lot more sexist language about women than men

Some language implies that the male version is the norm, and the female version is different or wrong

Marked terms

Some words are marked by a feminising suffix e.g. actress, usherette, comedienne

The suffix implies that the male version is the original or the norm, so it seems superior to the female version

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Generic terms

This is when a unmarked term is used to refer to both men and women

It's nearly always masculine terms which are used to mean people in general, rather than just men

The most common example is the word man, e.g. the noun mankind, or the verb to man the desk

Generic terms refer to everybody, but using them can make females seem invisible by ignoring them. When this occurs, women are said to be occupying negative semantic space

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Lexical Asymmetry

Refers to pairs of words that appear to have a similar meaning, but aren't equally balanced

e.g. bachelor and spinister (unmarried man and unmarried woman)

The connotations of bachelor are usually positive- it's associated with a man living a carefree, independent life

The connotations of spinister are usually negative- it implies that the woman has been unable to find a partner

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Patronising terms

Words used by speakers that imply superiority over the person they're talking to

Terms that imply someone is younger than the speaker can be patronising e.g. girls, young lady

Terms of endearment can be patronising in some circumstances e.g. love, dear, sweetheart

Whether a word is patronising depnds on the context e.g. a male employee who addresses a female colleaque as love could be seen as patronising, but boyfriends and girlfriends calling each other love might not

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Sexist grammar

The idea that male is the norm is also evident in English grammar

Pronouns

the 3rd person masculine pronoun he or his is often used to refer to both men and women

Syntax

When one gender specific word is always placed before another, it's known as order of preference

e.g. mr and mrs, men and women, sir and madam

Usually the male term comes first

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Insults

There are a lot more insulting terms for women than there are for men. This is known as over-representation

Lots of insulting terms for women have an animal theme e.g. *****, cow

There are lots of words to label women as promiscuous e.g. ****, ****, slapper

There are hardly any equivalents for men. Terms like studtend to have positive connotations

Terms like man whore or man **** tend to be used comically, and imply that the female version is the norm

The lack of an equivalent for something is known as lexical gap

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Sexist language can be avoided

The Sex Discrimination Act was passed in 1975 to protect people from sexual discrimination and harassment, especially at work and school

It reflected the work of feminist campaigners who wanted to promote equality between men and women

Part of this campaign was a push to get rid of sexist language

The idea is that language doesn't just reflect sexist attitudes- it helps to keep them alive

So if you change discriminatory language, then people's attitudes might change too

Often called political correctness

Sexist terms can be avoided replacing them with gender neutral ones

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Changing sexist language

Marked terms can be replaced by unmarked terms e.g. head teacher instead of headmaster or headmistress

Feminising suffixes can be dropped e.g. a female manager is called a manager not a manageress

Instead of Mrs or Miss, the titles Ms is often used, so you can't tell whether a woman is married

The generic use of man can be replaced by gender neutral terms e.g. humankind instead of mankind, workforce instead of manpower

The generic use of the masculine 3rd person pronoun (he) can be replaced by he/she, s/he or they. Sentences can be made gender neutral by using the plural instead

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Different views about sexist language

The point of encouraging people to avoid sexist language is to ensure people will be treated equally, and not feel they're being singled out, or ignored because of their gender

Sometimes there are problems with trying to control language in this way

people feel its overbearing and find it frustrating as they feel they can't speak freely

some people argue this can create resentment towards the group of people it is designed to protect

It's hard to enforce the use of non-sexist language

Some people think that condemming all sexist language ignores context and intent

E.g. if everyone understands that a comment is a joke, and nobody is offended by it, then it's pointless to have laws that stop people from making it

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Some people complain that Language is declining

Editorials in newspapers and magazines often have their say about the state of language today. The often link change to a sense of decline rather than development. Some also link what they see as the deterioration of language with the state of society in general.

Writing for a non-specialist audience means journalists can get the point across in many ways. For example:

Creating pessimistic atmosphere by using terms with negative connotations like culprit

Juxtaposing an idealised form of English with a physical fall or collapse and lack of civilisation

Use of superlative adjectives to give the text an air of authority and to make it seem more serious

Declarative sentences to make the writing sound authoritative and make the opinions seem definite and unquestionable

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Some writers embrace language change

Not everyone has the same feelings about language issues. This requires a different approach. For example:

Tone and style may be completely different

Writing may personify English giving it personality so it seems alive aiming to make the reader feel like language can't be controlled by prescriptivism

Using familiar human situations making it easier for non-specialists to understand

Use of rhetorical questions leading the reader to agreement

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Non-specialist books on language

Non-linguists are now quite well informed about language. This has resulted in lots of different opinions - everyone's got their own view on what constitutes 'good' or 'bad' English and whether they accept or understand certain phrases.

Linguists write non-specialist titles, like David Crystal's By Hook or by Crook: A Journey in Search of English and Txting: The Gr8 Db8 (2008) which are both very descriptive

There are also books like How to talk proper in Liverpool: Lern Yersel' Scouse or Larn Yersel' Geordie series, which are examples of light-hearted popular titles that document regional variations. There are also plenty of books about the differences between men and women in terms of language and gender

Journalists/broadcasters who aren't necessarily experts on linguistics sometimes write about language e.g. Melvyn Bragg's The Adventure of English (2003)